Method for producing different variants of rails from an assembly set, and system having a vehicle which is movable on a rail component

ABSTRACT

In a method for producing different rail variants from an assembly set, and system having a vehicle which is movable on a rail part, the assembly set includes a rail profile part and two different reactive components, and the rail profile part includes an interface at which one of the different reactive components is optionally able to be connected.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for producing differentvariants of rails from an assembly set, and to a system having a vehiclewhich is movable on a rail part.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The production of rails made of steel for public transportation systems,such as railways, tramways or the like, is known.

SUMMARY

Example embodiments of the present invention provide a rail-basedtransport system, which is able to be produced in the most-effectiveproduction possible.

Among features of example embodiments of the present invention in themethod for producing different variants of rails, especially monorailrails or monorail suspended railroad rails, from an assembly set arethat the assembly set includes a rail profile part and two differentreactive components,

the rail profile part having an interface to which one of the differentreactive components is optionally able to be connected.

This has the advantage of providing an implementation in two pieces.Depending on the used electromotive drive of the vehicle, i.e., a lineareddy current motor, an asynchronous motor, a synchronous motor, areluctance motor, etc., a correspondingly acting reactive component istherefore able to be mounted on the rail in integrated fashion.

The rail profile part may be provided with drilling aids, especiallydrilling grooves, for forming the interface, in particular as drillingaid when introducing bores,

a first drilling aid for joining the reactive component being used inproducing a first variant, especially for introducing a bore for a screwthat connects the reactive component and the rail profile part,

another drilling aid for joining the reactive component being used forproducing another variant, especially for introducing a bore for a screwthat connects the reactive component and the rail profile part. This hasthe advantage that depending on the selected rail part, and thusdepending on the rail part to be produced, a bore that is appropriatelysituated at different locations is able to be introduced into the railprofile part in an uncomplicated manner. This makes it possible toconnect reactive components, which are able to be joined by connectingscrews disposed in centered or eccentric manner, and which thereforefunction according to different action mechanisms in each case. Inparticular it is also possible to use a gear rack as reactive component,so that a linear geared motor is able to be provided, in which a geartooth component of the geared motor, driven by an electric motor of thegeared motor, is in engagement with the gear rack.

A blade of a linear asynchronous motor or of an eddy current motor maybe used as reactive component, or a holding part, accommodatingpermanent magnets, of a synchronous linear motor, or a reactivecomponent of a reluctance motor or a gear rack. This has the advantagethat different modes of action are realizable in the linear drive of thevehicle. In particular retrofitting of an existing system, from oneoperating principle to another operating principle, is able to beaccomplished in a simple and rapid manner.

Among features in the system having a vehicle which is movable on a railpart,

the rail part having a rail profile part, and

the rail profile component having a plurality of drilling aids disposedat a distance from each other. This has the advantage that depending onthe desired arrangement, i.e., depending on the reactive component,bores are able to be introduced into the rail profile part in a simple,rapid and highly precise manner. This then makes it possible to producea high number of rail variants using a small number of parts in theassembly set in the model line.

The rail profile part may be produced as a continuous casting component,especially including the drilling aids,

the rail profile part being made of aluminum, in particular. This isadvantageous insofar as no additional work is required to produce thedrilling grooves.

A recess for conveying a cooling medium such as air, pressurized air,water, oil or hydraulic oil, may be situated in the rail profile part.This has the advantage, for example, that rail profile parts heated byeddy currents are able to be cooled by the cooling medium. The recessesmay be arranged such that they improve the stability of the rail profilepart. For this purpose they have a circular cross-section, for example.

The rail profile part may have at least one running surface for a wheelof a vehicle. This has the advantage that multiple functionalities areable to be realized by the rail, such as a running surface for the wheeland guide wheel, as well as a reactive component, a data transmission byhollow conductors and slotted hollow conductors, and/or the conveyanceof a cooling medium through a cooling duct.

The drilling aids may be implemented in the form of grooves, especiallydrilling grooves, extending in the rail direction, parallel to eachother,

drilling grooves in particular being situated on the top side, andadditional drilling grooves being situated on a side surface, so that aprimary conductor is able to be threaded through a bore introduced intothe drilling groove. This is advantageous inasmuch as a bore is able tobe introduced in an uncomplicated manner at a predefinable railposition, so that a cable can be threaded through from the side surfaceof the rail profile part facing the vehicle to the side of the railprofile part facing away from the vehicle.

The rail profile may have a recess which is used as hollow conductor, aswell as a recess which is used as slotted hollow conductor,

an antenna for inputting or outputting electromagnetic radiation intothe hollow conductor, and

an antenna for inputting or outputting electromagnetic radiation intothe slotted hollow conductor being provided, and

the vehicle having an antenna for inputting or outputtingelectromagnetic radiation into the slotted hollow conductor.

This has the advantage that the slotted hollow conductor may be used totransmit data from the vehicle to the nearest infeed, from where thedata intended for other devices, e.g., other infeeds or a centralcomputer, are able to be transmitted further via the hollow conductor.

The frequency of the electromagnetic waves input into the hollowconductor may differ by less than the factor of two from the frequencyof electromagnetic waves input into the slotted hollow conductor. Thishas the advantage that a substantially similar frequency range may beused, so that the recesses in the slotted hollow conductor profileroughly have a similar size. This makes it possible to achieve highstability of the rail profile part through a suitable placement of therecesses.

A bore may be introduced at a first drilling aid, where a first reactivecomponent is joined by a screwed connection, and a drilling aid setapart from the first drilling aid is situated on the rail profilecomponent without being used, to be utilized especially for a screwedconnection with a reactive component that differs from the firstreactive component. This is advantageous inasmuch as different variantsare able to be produced using parts that differ only slightly, i.e.,from a small assembly set of parts.

The drilling aids may be situated in a groove, especially at the base ofthe groove. This has the advantage that the groove walls are able to beused for centering and as lateral delimitation.

The groove may be introduced into a running surface. This has theadvantage that the vehicle is able to be supported on the runningsurface on both sides of the groove, by wheels.

Additional recesses, which are usable as hollow conductors may bedisposed in the rail profile part, whose dimensions are so small that afrequency must be used that is at least twice as high as in the case ofthe slotted hollow conductor. This has the advantage of providingadditional data transmission channels.

A receiver may be provided on the rail profile part, on which a holdingdevice is affixable, especially a plastic profile part, whichaccommodates a primary conductor, into which a medium frequencyalternating current is able to be impressed, especially at a frequencybetween 10 and 500 kHz; as a result, a secondary winding disposed on thevehicle is inductively coupled to the primary conductor, which isinstalled in elongated form in the rail direction, a capacity beingconnected to the secondary winding in series or in parallel, such thatthe associated resonant frequency substantially corresponds to thefrequency of the alternating current input into the primary conductor.This is advantageous insofar as it allows for a contactless energytransmission to the vehicle. However, eddy currents are produced inmetallic parts in the process, which lead to heating. For coolingpurposes, cooling channels which conduct a cooling medium are providedin the rail profile part.

Example embodiments of the present invention are explained in greaterdetail below with reference to the appended Figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an OMR (overhead monorail rail) rail according to anexample embodiment of the present invention, in cross-section, theopening of a slotted hollow conductor 1 having been introduced on theside.

FIG. 2 shows another OMR (overhead monorail rail) rail according to anexample embodiment of the present invention, in cross-section, theopening of a slotted hollow conductor 1 having been introduced at thebottom.

FIG. 3 shows the oblique view associated with FIG. 2, in which a bladeis joined to the rail in detachable manner.

FIG. 4 shows the oblique view associated with FIG. 2, in which a gearrack is joined to the rail in detachable manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows the profile of the OMR rail produced by a continuouscasting process. Recesses are provided in the continuous castingprofile, which extend in the continuous casting direction withoutinterruption.

Two separate recesses 14, which are usable as cavities for conductingelectromagnetic waves, are situated in the upper part of the OMR rail.As a result, recesses 14 are optionally usable as hollow conductors.

Running surfaces for wheels are situated on the outer sides, especiallyat the top side and the side walls of the wall surrounding recesses 14.On the top side, a running surface 4 is provided for load-bearingwheels, which substantially introduces the weight force of the railvehicle into this running surface 4 on the top side. The force must betransmitted through the rail profile, up to its suspension, where theforce is then shunted to the suspension.

Running surfaces 3 for guide wheels of the rail vehicle are provided onthe side surfaces of the wall. As a result, the vehicle is laterallyguidable along the rail.

The wall including recesses 14 is connected via rail wall 15 to anothersection of the profile, which in turn includes a recess 2 having aclosed cross-section, which is used as hollow conductor. In addition, arecess 1 is implemented, which is open toward the side and is able to beused as slotted hollow conductor. This therefore produces a rail in onepiece, which not only allows the weight force of the vehicle and thelateral guidance of the vehicle, but also the conducting of waves. Acavity, which is closed in profile, is used as hollow conductor 2, and acavity, which is laterally open in profile is used, which is provided asa slotted hollow conductor 1. The vehicle guides an antenna for thetransmission and reception of electromagnetic waves along the slot area,so that an uninterrupted data exchange is possible while the vehicle ismoving. For while it is true that the waves input into slotted hollowconductor 1 propagate along the rail, a portion exits at the slot andthus is usable for the data reception. Conversely, a portion of theelectromagnetic radiation emitted from the antenna is input into slottedhollow conductor 1, so that it is able to convey the radiation along therail direction. The coupling device for the incoupling or outcoupling ofthe electromagnetic radiation is not shown in the figures.

Mounting device 10, especially a suspension device, is provided on thewall surrounding recesses 14 and in the section connected via rail wall15. In this manner, mounting device 10 may be used to fix the OMR railin place on a hall wall or on T-carriers of a system, especially indetachable manner. This allows a rapid and simple exchange. In so doing,the entire rail is exchanged, that is to say, both the mechanicallybearing part and the part acting as the electromagnetically conductivehollow conductor.

Receivers 7 for top hat rails, especially top hat rail mounting devices,are also situated on a side surface of rail wall 15, so that a top hatrail is able to be affixed, which allows the realization of additionalfunctionalities.

Furthermore, recesses are also provided in the rail profile, which areable to be used as duct 8, especially as pressurized air duct orhydraulics duct. It is therefore possible to route pressurized air orhydraulic pressure through in the rail direction, so that heat from therail profile is able to be dissipated. Since strong alternating magneticfields emanate from the primary conductor, eddy currents are induced inthe rail profile, which lead to heating of the rail profile. By formingthe rail profile from metal, especially aluminum, the heat is dissipatedto the pressurized air duct or hydraulics duct in an especiallysatisfactory manner. As a result, even plastic-shielded wheels orplastic wheels are usable as running wheels and/or guide wheels, i.e., amaterial pairing of metal of the rail and plastic is able to be used onthe running surface. This results in an especially quiet operation ofthe vehicle.

Running surfaces 3 for side wheels are also provided in the lowersection on the side, and a running surface 5 for additional guide wheelsis provided on the underside.

A mounting surface 6 for identification devices or codes, in particularbar codes or pickup masks, is provided on rail wall 15. Using a sensordisposed on the vehicle it is therefore possible to read the coding andto determine information for the current position of the vehicle on thatbasis. This determination takes place with the aid of an electroniccircuit in the vehicle, which is electrically connected to the sensorand thus processes the information detected by the sensor.

Drilling grooves 9 provide a drilling aid, especially already during thecontinuous casting process. The bores are therefore easy to introduceinto rail wall 15 and thus allow electronic modules to be screw-mountedas well. In addition, such a bore may be used for the through-feeding ofa primary conductor cable. This primary conductor preferably is clippedinto a plastic profile, which is connected at hat rail mounting system 7in form-locking and/or force-locking manner, especially latched.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 2, an adapter notch 11 for additionalcomponents is introduced in the top side. As illustrated in FIG. 3, ablade 30 may be provided, which either is arranged as stationary part ofa linear asynchronous motor, in which case the vehicle has a statorincluding a three-phase winding which is interacting with the blade ascorresponding to the short-circuit cage, in order to generate a feedforce in the rail direction. As an alternative, the vehicle has a magnetwheel drive as eddy current drive, in which a system of permanentmagnets is able to be set in rotary motion by an electric motor, so thatthese permanent magnets rotate past blade 30 and thereby generate eddycurrents therein, so that the feed force in the rail direction is ableto be generated in this manner.

Using gear rack 40 shown in FIG. 3, even large gradients of the systemare able to be overcome in that the vehicle has a gear wheel whose teethare able to be brought into engagement with the gearing of the gearrack, so that free spinning of drive wheels is avoidable, especiallyalso at high gradients, i.e., high downhill output forces.

As can be gathered from FIG. 3, the rail profile is arranged such thatan integrated cable duct 12 is produced, so that cables may be insertedand thus are easily installable in the rail direction.

In addition, an adapter notch 13 for a snap-on cable duct or additionalcomponents is provided on the profile, especially in the lower sectionof the profile. As a result, a holding device is able to be inserted,which, for instance, accommodates and holds a primary conductor, whichis able to be at least partially enveloped by a coil core of a secondarywinding disposed on the vehicle, and thus may be coupled thereto ininductive manner.

Infeeds are provided for each path section within the system. Theseinfeeds impress a medium frequency alternating current, especially at afrequency between 10 and 500 kHz, into an elongated line conductor,which is installed in the rail direction and thus is able to beinductively coupled to a secondary winding provided on the vehicle. Acapacity is connected in series or parallel to the secondary winding,such that the associated resonant frequency substantially corresponds tothe impressed alternating current frequency, which makes it possible toachieve high efficiency in the contactless energy transmission from theprimary conductor to the secondary winding of the vehicle.

Slotted hollow conductors 1 and hollow conductors 2 are used indifferent manners. As described earlier, a data exchange takes placebetween the vehicle and the slotted hollow conductors, so that the dataare then able to be forwarded in the slotted hollow conductor as far asan antenna projecting into the slotted hollow conductor.

Preferably, this antenna is placed in an infeed region of the primarycurrent. In this region a slot is machined into the rail part, intowhich a plate is slipped, so that hollow conductor 2 is subdivided intoa front and rear half-space. Accordingly, a separate antenna is providedin front of and behind the plate for the incoupling or outcoupling ofelectromagnetic waves. The signals of the antennas are supplied to aseparate data transmission device, which is situated in the infeedregion in each case.

Slotted hollow conductor 1 is used to provide a stable, shielded radioconnection for the movable, track-guided vehicles. In other words, thelinking of a vehicle to the slotted hollow conductor takes place via amobile vehicle coupler, i.e., an antenna guided along the slot of theslotted hollow conductor. This allows for a contactless mobile datatransmission.

Closed hollow conductor 2 is used for the steady-state backbonecommunication. In this case, both the transmitter and receiver are at afixed location and cannot be moved. The hollow conductor is closedbetween the transmission and reception position, and no signalconnection, i.e., signal incoupling or signal outcoupling, is able totake place in-between. This therefore realizes a stationary datatransmission as in the case of a cable link using a coaxial cable.

In this context, it is important that each path section is assigned anelectrical system that may be called an infeed, which is provided notonly as power supply into the primary conductor for a contactless powersupply of the vehicle, but which is also used for the incoupling oroutcoupling of signals for data-transmission purposes. In so doing, thesignals are coupled into hollow conductor 2 and/or into recesses 14,which are usable as hollow conductors. This allows for a datatransmission to all infeeds or to a central control since all infeedsand possibly also the central control have antennas for the dataexchange with hollow conductor 2 or recesses 14, the antennascorrespondingly projecting into the hollow conductor or the recesses.

Using the slotted hollow conductor, data are able to be exchangedbetween the vehicle and the particular infeed that is connected to anantenna projecting into the slotted hollow conductor 1 in the particularpath section assigned to the infeed.

Although the signals are coupled into slotted hollow conductor 1 andhollow conductor 2, or into recesses 14, at frequencies from thefrequency range between 4 and 8 GHz, damping in slotted hollow conductor1 in the rail direction is greater, however, so that a lowerdata-transmission rate and/or range are/is able to be realized as aconsequence.

Damping inside hollow conductor 1 and/or recesses 14 is lower, so thatthe data transmission is able to take place at a high rate.

The infeed also includes a converter, which forwards the particular datathat are not to be exchanged between the vehicle and the infeed assignedto the slotted hollow conductor of the path section, to hollow conductor2 or removes the data therefrom.

As shown in FIG. 2, adapter notch 11 is provided with a drilling groovedisposed in centered manner inside the notch, as well as with twoadditional drilling grooves 20, so that at least one drilling groove 20is situated on both sides of the centered drilling groove, thesedrilling grooves then being disposed off-center in particular.Symmetrical spacing in relation to centered drilling groove 20 isadvantageous in this context.

The drilling grooves are elongated in the rail direction; in otherwords, they are introduced by the continuous casting tool during thecontinuous casting process.

This makes it easy to introduce a bore in the region of the drillinggroove, since the drill tool does not slip sideways when placing thedrilling tool. The bore surrounds drilling groove 20 when finished.

A configuration according to FIG. 3 or according to FIG. 4 is optionallypossible in the production. The advantageously placed bores areintroduced into the profile part at the appropriate drilling grooves.

When opting for the implementation according to FIG. 3, two bores areused in eccentric grooves 20, so that blade 30 is screw-fitted on bothsides with the profile part in its widened region disposed in the groovebase.

If the implementation according to FIG. 4 is selected, a bore incentered groove 20 is used, so that gear rack 40 is screw-fitted withthe profile part in centered manner, the screwed connection inparticular being disposed inside a depression of gear rack 40, i.e., ata location with the lowest wall thickness possible.

As a result, an assembly which includes the profile part, the gear rackand the blade is able to be provided. Using this assembly set, it isthen optionally possible to produce a variant including the blade or,alternatively, the gear rack. A high number of variants is thereforeable to be produced using a low number of parts. This therefore makes itpossible to produce a model line of different rail profiles from theassembly set.

Additional drilling grooves preferably are likewise implemented inparallel in the rail direction and provided in the adapter notch,thereby making it possible to provide additional screwed connections atother distances from the centrically disposed drilling groove.

In other exemplary embodiments according to the present invention, it isnot only the blade or the gear rack that are accommodated, but alsoadditional reactive components such as a holding part accommodatingpermanent magnets for forming a synchronous linear motor, or a reactivecomponent of a linear reluctance motor.

In additional exemplary embodiments according to the present invention,a non-centered drilling groove is provided instead of the centereddrilling groove.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 slotted hollow conductor-   2 hollow conductor-   3 running surface for side wheels-   4 running surface for load-bearing wheels-   5 running surface for additional guide wheels-   6 mounting surface for identification means or codings, especially    bar codes or pickoff mask-   7 receiver for top hat rails, especially top hat rail mounting means-   8 duct, especially pressurized air duct or hydraulics duct-   9 drilling grooves-   10 mounting device, especially suspension device-   11 adapter notch for additional components-   12 integrated cable duct-   13 adaptation groove for plug-in cable duct or further components-   14 recess, especially usable as hollow conductor-   15 rail wall-   20 drilling grooves-   30 blade, especially aluminum blade-   40 gear rack-   41 screw, screw-fitted in the region of the centerrf drilling groove

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: producing differentvariants of rails from an assembly set, the assembly set including arail profile part and two different reactive components, the railprofile part having an interface at which a first one of the differentreactive components is connectable to produce a first one of thedifferent variants, and at which a second one of the different reactivecomponents is connectable to produce a second one of the differentvariants, wherein the interface connects to only one of the first andsecond different variants at a time, wherein the first one of thedifferent reactive components is capable of serving as part of a firsttype of electromotive drive, wherein the second one of the differentreactive components is capable of serving as part of a second type ofelectromotive drive, and wherein the rail profile part has drillingaids, including drilling grooves, spaced apart from each other forforming the interface and/or for introducing bores, a first drillingaid, but not a second drilling aid, being used for joining the first oneof the reactive components to produce the first variant, and/or forintroducing a bore for a screw connecting the first one of the reactivecomponents and the rail profile part, the second drilling aid, but notthe first drilling aid, being used for joining the second one of thereactive components to produce the second variant, and/or forintroducing a bore for a screw connecting the second one of the reactivecomponents and the rail profile part.
 2. The method according to claim1, wherein the rails include monorail rails and/or suspended railroadrails.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a blade of a linearasynchronous motor or an eddy current motor is used as the first one ofthe reactive components, or a holding part, accommodating permanentmagnets, of a synchronous linear motor, or a reactive component of areluctance motor or a gear rack.